Old School Should Be New School

Antique: A collectible object such as a piece of furniture or work of art that has a high value because of its considerable age.

Just about any thing you can think of becomes more valuable because it has aged “to perfection” except our system of education.

In the field of education, anything “new” that comes from education experts who generally have never taught in a classroom, becomes the latest program adopted by school districts and forced on professionals who actually teach children.

Each new program boasts the same misnomer, “Created by teachers for teachers” when the truth is the teachers who created these ineffective programs have never taught but simply hold teaching degrees.

Currently, the Common Core Standards is the newest regimented program that teachers are forced to inflict upon their students.

Our government has shut down and legislatures will not come to consensus about providing affordable health care to the citizens of these United States yet they will force States to adopt a “cut and paste” curriculum that will be forced upon districts who will force their teachers to force students to accept in order to receive federal funding for educating America’s children.

Providing a child centered, experiential, excellent education that concentrates on the gifts and talents of the child is not new. In fact, it is very “old school”.

In the past, education sought to discover the child’s passion in life and move them towards their profession of choice. At that time however only the children of the elite were educated.

Education was made public because very few could afford to educate their children.

Once becoming public the “old school” system was constantly replaced with a newer, cheaper, standardized system of education. Cost became the focus of education for the “common” man’s child while the elite maintained the level of educational excellence for their children.

In an America that promises equality there is a stark reality that mis-education perpetuates; the rich get richer and the poor, poorer.

Every child deserves to be educated in an “old school” elitist system of education.